Imagine photographing stars and star trails under the clear night skies of the Eastern Sierras with the guidance of two masters of night photography! Under the auspices of Star Circle Academy, www.StarCircleAcademy.com, the Alabama Hills Star Circle Workshop will be a chance to hone your night photography skills, learn new skills both behind the camera and in the digital darkroom. You’ll come home with spectacular, unique images based upon the stunning clarity and unusual topography of California’s Eastern Sierra and the autumnal night skies.

The workshop will be based in Lone Pine, California and will use the Alabama Hills area, with its background of Mt Whitney and the High Sierra crest, as the primary shooting location. You can register now with an early-bird discount or get more information about the workshop.

Starry Night 3, photo by Harold Davis. Original story about this photo.

The Alabama Hills Star Circle Workshop is for anyone who wants to learn more about the exciting world of night photography, or who wants to take their night photography to the next level. The workshop is geared to provide specific information about photographing star trails using an intervalometer (a programmable timer) and using stacking software to create a single composite low-noise image of star circles.

Here are some links for more information: Star Circle Academy; Information about Alabama Hills Nov 5-7 workshop; Workshop syllabus (PDF); Registration.

Tuition is $425 if you register by September 11, 2010, $500 if you register by September 30, 2010, and $600.00 thereafter. Click here for more details or to register.

Based on past experience, we expect this workshop to sell out as it is strictly limited to 20 participants. A waiting list will be available once the workshop fills.

Class room portions of the workshop will be conducted at the Best Western Frontier Motel in Lone Pine, California where rooms are available to workshop participants at a discounted rate of $80 per night.

I am lucky to have my friend Steven Christenson as the co-leader of this workshop. Steven is a geek by day and a photographer, hiker, backpacker and magician by night. He is also a co-founder and an organizer of the very successful Bay Area Night Photography group where like-minded, low-light photographers find interesting subjects and challenges. Those who have been lucky enough to photograph with Steven know that he is generous with sharing his knowledge—and a great deal of fun!

Steven’s love of astronomy, technology and photography have found an outlet in night photography, especially star trails. Steven is expert at photographing star trails and his images have been selected by the Greenwich Royal Observatory for the short list for the Astronomy Photographer of the Year, 2010 competition. He has built custom components to power a camera for all-night unattended shooting. Steven freely shares his knowledge of astronomy and software tools for choosing the best celestial subjects, weather, dates and vantage points to capture everything from star trails to unusual astronomical events.

Please consider joining us for what will be a glorious and fun nightime adventure—not to mention highly educational.